Parrotfish, Great Barrier Reef

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Parrotfish, Great Barrier Reef

Photograph by David Doubilet, National Geographic

The clownish grin of a bridled parrotfish reveals its power tools: grinding teeth used to scrape algae from rock. Though sometimes destructive to individual corals, the fish's efforts are mostly beneficial. Without them, algal growth could smother the reef. Scarus frenatus